Jaiprakash Tripathi
Tourism now plays an important role in the economy. From Uttarakhand, Himachal to the hill states of the Northeast, the entire economy is dependent on it. Many types of jobs are created by the influx of tourists. Therefore, keeping an eye on the tourism target, the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (Faith) in its recently released ‘Visit Paper-2035’, expecting 75 million tourists and 7.5 billion domestic tourist visits, is expected to make 150 billion dollars in foreign exchange and It is dreaming of creating 15 crore direct and indirect jobs.
There is a primitive interrelationship between environment and tourism. The concerns of tourism from earnings to its impact on the environment are being re-understood in today’s environment. Meanwhile, the stampede of rising inflation and unemployment is not giving any less stress. In such a situation, tourism peels off the soft skin of our rich environment. The plants begin to wither. Mild-mild footsteps also startle wildlife. Traffic day and night in tourist areas, unplanned urbanization, some resorts, somewhere millions of trees were rolled under the pretext of tents, mountains of garbage floating in lakes with boats, bottles, plastic waste; And in the same way, the entire wildlife is shaken by the destruction of forests blazing with a single spark of bidi-cigarette.
The wild construction of residential buildings, highways, hotels, dhabas is also destroying no less to make the tourism industry flourish. Look into the valley of flowers and see how she has become barren. How the rivers changing direction are wreaking havoc on the settlements below. Today, when the world is going through a ‘climate emergency’, now space tourism is also becoming a threat to the environment.
In the wake of rising carbon emissions in space, that is why in July last year, there was strong opposition to the one hundred and sixty kilometer ‘space-travel’ of ‘Virgin Galactic Space’ owner Richard Branson. A British research institute is reporting that the world could lose access to forty percent of its oil-gas reserves, 600 billion barrels of oil, due to climate change due to the pressures of tourism.
The largest crude oil refinery on America’s Gulf Coast shuts down in severe cold. Rory Klasby, environmental analyst at Verisk Maplecraft, says such incidents will become more intense in the future. The industry playing with the environment has to pay the highest price for this. The dependence on fossil fuels has created a different crisis. War is becoming a major factor in pollution. Supersonic warplanes are spreading pollution fiercely.
The report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) states that the threats to food security are deepening due to heavy natural exploitation for tourism prosperity, climate disaster etc. Climate disaster Ganga, Indus, Amu river etc. may have to face water scarcity. Due to the melting of glaciers, new lakes will be created in the Himalayan regions of Uttarakhand, which will destroy the hilly embankments and ruin the low-lying areas.
These conditions have started creating upheaval not only in mountainous areas, but also in river valley areas, marine and coastal ecosystems. Due to reversal of weather cycle, sudden rains, high temperature, there is a huge increase in patients of respiratory, infectious diseases, diabetes, malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea.
In an era of tourism concerns, the problem of plastic waste was discussed in depth globally during the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Convention. Then, at the point of our tourism here, the lake and mountains of Udaipur also witnessed this. One hundred and seventy five countries of the world including India signed a resolution to tackle the problem of plastic waste.
During this, it was decided to prepare the draft of an international agreement for environmental adaptation and the process of funding for it by the end of 2024. Significantly, this agreement has been done in the midst of the Russo-Ukraine War. A research paper has warned that in this era, every person’s body absorbs 142 pieces of plastic every day knowingly or unknowingly during food and 170 pieces while breathing.
Indian-global hotel chains continue to model the economic development of the tourism sector, despite climate disasters and pandemics. Ponds, mountains, orchards, beautiful sanctuaries, even rare aquatic creatures including migratory birds, domestic waste at tourist places, polythene bags, medical waste, worship material, oblivious to the meat excreta after Eid-Bakrid, are in the jaws of this development model. go away. Meanwhile, scientists warn that centuries-old glaciers in Lahaul-Spiti are melting rapidly due to vehicular black carbon. Earlier, when there was no uncontrolled movement of vehicles, ‘powder snow’ used to fall, now it rains due to disturbance of ecological balance.
The question is, if tourism is becoming the cause of destruction, then even the hill villages and small markets get life donation from this. How can crores of people living in hilly areas with small households survive without tourists? Tourism now plays an important role in the economy. The entire economy from Uttarakhand-Himachal to the hill states of the Northeast is dependent on this. Many types of jobs are created by the influx of tourists.
Therefore, keeping an eye on the tourism target, the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (Faith) in its recently released ‘Visit Paper-2035’, expecting 75 million tourists and 7.5 billion domestic tourist visits, is expected to make 150 billion dollars in foreign exchange and It is dreaming of creating 15 crore direct and indirect jobs. Market excellence, price-addition regulation, national tourism outlook and investment spurts are notable in one of its visionary latest documents.
Along with including tourism in the concurrent list, he has also recommended the formation of the National Tourism Council. It has given single approval for projects like travel loans for meetings, conferences, exhibitions, domestic travel for wealth creation of hotel-restaurant entrepreneurs, tourism-travel in the country and for accelerating global-domestic tourism-flow towards Indian tourism. A smooth national transport system has also been suggested for movement.
It is worth noting that travel-hospitality contributes about ten percent to the total tax collection of the Government of India. Foreign airlines are taking all kinds of wrong benefits for the closure of Indian flights. Due to air bubble agreements with about thirty one countries of India, in the last one year itself, our airline system has suffered a severe loss of twenty thousand crore rupees.
It is noteworthy that today tourism has become the third largest foreign exchange bringer in India. This sector alone gives jobs to more than four crore people. About two years ago, the contribution of the tourism sector to the country’s economy had reached two hundred and forty billion dollars. NITI Aayog had made a prediction four years ago that by 2022, India’s annual income from the tourism industry could reach 50 billion dollars. For this, India wants to increase its share in global tourism from 1.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
For the time being, amidst reports of Corona’s return, as the Russo-Ukraine war continues, from Mussoorie to Shimla-Kufri-Lahaul-Spiti, from Rishikesh-Gangotri to Manali, domestic and foreign are eagerly waiting to get out of the quagmire of endless inflation this season. The common entrepreneurs who are waiting for the tourists, the unemployed have started getting stuck once again. In such a situation, what is going to happen to the dreams of Jasmine Shah, Deputy Chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission, to make Delhi a ‘tourism spot’. Amidst the concerns of climate disaster, what can happen to the prosperity of the tourism sector that even the snake dies and the stick does not break, the question remains unanswered, the issue is serious!